Eddie August Schneider (1911-1940)/Obituaries
Eddie August Schneider (1911-1940) was a record holding aviator, he set the junior transcontinental airspeed record in 1930. He fought for the Loyalists in the Spanish Civil War and he died in a plane crash in 1940. (b. October 20, 1911, 2nd Avenue and 17th Street, Manhattan, New York County, New York City, New York, USA - d. December 23, 1940, Deep Creek and Flatbush Avenue, Floyd Bennett Field, Brooklyn, Kings County, Long Island, New York City, New York, USA) Jersey Journal of Jersey City, New Jersey Local Pilot Killed. Eddie Schneider and Passenger Die in Crash. Eddie A. Schneider, 29, veteran pilot and former holder of the junior transcontinental speed record for airplanes, was instantly killed yesterday afternoon when a small monoplane in which he was giving a refresher course to another pilot was struck by U.S. Naval Reserve plane at Floyd Bennett Airport, Brooklyn. Schneider's plane, one wing sheared off, plummeted in a tight spin into an inlet of Jamaica Bay, causing instant death to Schneider and his student, George W. Herzog, 37. Schneider, a native of New York City was a resident of Jersey City until a few years ago. He became interested in aviation while still a student at Dickinson High School, Jersey City, causing him to leave school when 15 to go to work as a plane mechanic at old Roosevelt Field in Hempstead, Long Island. Schneider during his career in aviation broke the East-West, West-East and round trip junior transcontinental records in 1930 in his famous red Cessna monoplane, when only 18. He crossed the continent from Westfield Airport, New Jersey, to Los Angeles in 29 hours and 41 minutes, breaking the record of the late Frank Goldsborough. Eddie was at one time the youngest licensed commercial pilot and competed in air races and meets with men far more experienced and older than he was, after carrying off first honors. In the Ford National Reliability Tours of 1930 and 1931. Schneider with his red Cessna, carried off the Great Lakes Trophy one year, and then took first place the next year. In one of the air tours a defect in a propeller caused the engine of his plane to break loose while flying over a mountainous section of Kentucky, and Schneider made a forced landing in a corn patch on a side of the mountain. A new engine was rushed to him and after an extremely difficult takeoff, which experienced airmen, said was not possible, he went on to win first place in the tour. Schneider in 1934 became the manager of the old Jersey City Airport at Droyers Point, operating the field for a period of a little more than a year. While at the airport he taught many Hudson County students how to fly. Schneider had a narrow escape in 1935 when a Travelair biplane in which he and a student were taking off from the airport landed in Newark Bay after the motor suddenly went dead at 100 feet of attitude. The plane was only slightly damaged in the forced water landing. Schneider and the student Al Clemmings sic, wading to shore. In 1936 Eddie with Bert Acosta and three other pilots, enlisted in the Yankee Escadrille of the Loyalist Air Corps in Spain. For several months Schneider was flying antiquated planes, which had been rigged up with racks, dropping bombs on military objectives of the Franco forces. Schneider finally became thoroughly disgusted with the Communist regime, which he said was directing the Loyalist forces, and after many difficulties, returned to this country. Since returning from Spain, Schneider, a licensed airplane mechanic since he was 15, worked for American Airlines, first at Newark Liberty International Airport and then at La Guardia Airport, New York City, first as a mechanic, then as instrument inspector. About six months ago he resigned his post with American Airlines to take a position as student instructor with the Archie Baxter Flying Service teaching Civil Aeronautics Authority students to fly. Yesterday afternoon Schneider took Herzog, a resident of New Hyde Park, Long Island, up for a refresher course. Herzog, holder of a commercial license, had allowed the license to lapse, and was required to take dual flying time before his license would be renewed. Schneider was flying at about 600 feet altitude, coming in for a landing, when a United States Naval Reserve biplane piloted by Ensign Kenneth A. Kuehler, 25, of Rochester, Ohio, was observer, struck the tail assembly of Schneider's tandem Piper Cub. The tails surfaces and left wing of Schneider's plane were badly damaged and as the two planes separated after the mid-air collision, the small monoplane went in a tight spin, striking Deep Creek several hundred feet from Flatbush Avenue and sinking. The Naval Reserve plane was able to land at the airport. Airport emergency crews raced to the spot where Schneider's plane had submerged and the bodies of Schneider and Herzog were taken from the plane within a very few minutes after the crash. Attempts were made to to revive the two, but a Kings County Hospital ambulance intern pronounced both dead on arrival at the scene. It is believed that both were killed by the impact of the plane with the water. The bodies were taken to Kings County Hospital and Schneider will be released today and brought to Jersey City for funeral services. Herzog is survived by a widow and two small children. Schneider lived in Jersey City at 114 Carlton Avenue in the Hudson City section when he established the transcontinental records. New York Times of New York City, New York 2 Die As Planes Crash At Field. Eddie Schneider, who started flying when he was 15 years old and set a junior transcontinental record in 1930 at the age of 18, was killed with a student passenger yesterday when their light training plane was in collision with a Naval Reserve plane, also on a training flight, just west of Floyd Bennett Field. The Naval Reserve plane landed safely at the field but Schneider's plane went into a spin, tore off a wing, and crashed into Deep Creek, a few hundred feet across Flatbush Avenue from the city airport in Brooklyn. Both Schneider and his passenger, George W. Herzog, 37, a contractor living at 535 North Second Street, New Hyde Park, Long Island, were dead when their bodies were pulled from the submerged wreckage. At the Naval Reserve base at Floyd Bennett Field it was said the Navy biplane, a Stearman trainer, had been piloted by Ensign Kenneth A, Kuehner, 25, of Minister, Ohio, with Second Class Seaman Frank Newcomer, of Rochester, Ohio, as a passenger. The right lower wing of the naval plane, the left upper wing and the propeller were damaged. The third accident, in two weeks in which a Naval Reserve plane based at Floyd Bennett Field was involved, it brought the comment from Dock Commissioner John McKenzie that it was the sort of thing to be expected "where there are training: flights at an airport." "That is the point that Mayor La Guardia has been making". Mr. McKenzie said, 'in his efforts to keep training away from commercial fields.' Police said the witnesses to the accident were agreed that the Naval Reserve plane was crossing above the plane piloted by Schneider, a high-wing Piper Tandem Cub monoplane, as the two approached the field for a landing 600 feet above Deep Creek, Schneider's plane went into a tight spin as the two planes disengaged after colliding, the witnesses said, appeared to straighten out and then plummeted into the water as its left wing tore loose. Many would-be rescuers were on the scene within, a few moments, including police, Coast Guardsmen and fliers from Floyd Bennett Field. The bodies of the two men were pulled quickly from the wreckage and onto a half-submerged barge near which the plane fell, but it appeared both had been killed when the plane hit the water. Joseph Hanley, first assistant district attorney of Kings County, opened an investigation at the scene and a naval board of inquiry, headed by Commander H. R. Bowes, was ordered convened by the Navy Department in Washington. Schneider lived at 32-50 Seventy-third Street, Jackson Heights, Queens. He leaves a widow. Herzog leaves a widow and two children. He had been flying some time, holding a limited commercial pilot's license, but had enrolled for a refresher course with the Archie Baxter Flying Service, Inc., owner of the plane. Schneider was an instructor at the school. The bodies of the two men were taken to Floyd Bennett Field pending funeral arrangements. Schneider first gained public attention as a flier in the Summer of 1930 when he announced plans for an attempt to break the junior transcontinental east-west record of 34 hours 57 minutes set the year before by 15-year-old Frank Goldsborough, who was later killed. Taking off from Westfield, New Jersey, August 14, he landed at Los Angeles four days later with a new elapsed time mark of 29 hours 55 minutes. He then flew the west-east passage in 27 hours 19 minutes to better Goldsborough's time for that flight and also for the round trip. He continued active in aviation, competing in National Air Tours, races, and as an instructor. He went to Spain in 1936 to fly for the Loyalists, but returned the next year without having collected the $1,500-a-month pay that was promised him. He and other American fliers were looked on with suspicion by many of the Loyalists, he said, because they were not Communists. Schneider had a narrow escape from death May 15, 1935, when the engine of his training plane failed and it fell into Newark Bay with him and a student passenger shortly after they had taken off from Jersey City Airport, of which he then was manager. Schneider's father, Emil, a Jersey City banker, financed his son's transcontinental flight after having first opposed his efforts to become a flier. The boy had quit school at 15 and worked as a mechanic at Roosevelt Field, Mineola, Long Island, and at the Westfield airport to secure money for flying lessons. He was the youngest licensed flier in the country when he received a limited commercial license shortly after his eighteenth birthday in 1929. Herald News of Passaic, New Jersey Eddie Schneider Dies in Long Island Plane Collision. Young Pilot Ran Delawanna Airport, Fought in Spain. Edward ("Eddie") Schneider, 31, world renowned flier, who once managed the Delawanna Airport, died yesterday with a student pilot when a small plane in which they were flying collided with a Navy trainer and plunged 600 feet into Jamaica Bay. The pilot and passenger in the Navy plane were uninjured. The bodies of Schneider and the student, George W. Herzog, 37, were recovered from an Inlet of Jamaica Bay, near Floyd Bennett Airport. They were believed to have drowned. Herzog held a commercial pilots license but was taking a Civil Aeronautics Board "refresher" course with Schneider as his instructor. Ensign Kenneth A. Kuehner, 25, of Minister, Ohio, pilot of the Navy plane, brought his craft to a safe landing and it was found to be damaged only slightly. His passenger was Second Class Seaman Franklin Newcomer, 25, of Rochester, Ohio. Schneider who learned to fly at 16 when he resided at 114 Carlton Avenue, Jersey City, was one of four "Suicide pilots", who led the Yankee Squadron fighting with the Loyalists In the Spanish revolution in 1937. Bert Acosta was also a member of the American quartet of aces. In 1930 Schneider set a new junior speed record of 29 hours and 41 minutes from Westfield, New Jersey., to Los Angeles. A week later he smashed two other record with eastward flights. In 1935 the young flier narrowly escaped death in an accident similar to that in which he died yesterday. While flying over Newark Bay with a student, the engine of his plane went dead and the ship overturned while making an emergency landing on the bay, Schneider and his student were thrown into the water and were rescued. Schneider left Dickinson High School Jersey City, in his third year to take up flying. The "air bug" bit him when he was on a visit to Germany and made a flight in a commercial plane from Hanover to Hamburg. On his return home he took up flying at Roosevelt Field, Long Island In 1931 he won the Great Lakes Trophy in the Ford tour for single-engine planes, beating fliers like Jimmy Doolittle and Frank Hawkes. During his flying career he visited every State in the Country. In 1937 he was chief pilot and field manager at Delawanna Airport. The Des Moines Register of Des Moines, Iowa Schneider Dies, A Speed Pilot. His Wife a Former D. M. Woman. Edward Schneider, 33, famous flyer and husband of a former Des Moine woman, Monday was killed in an airplane crash at New York, N.Y. Mrs. Schneider, who survives him, is the former Gretchen Hahnen, daughter of Mrs. Zora Hahnen, 2828 Ingersoll avenue. Mrs. Hahnen, who owns Lucretia's Gift shop, left for New York late Monday night. Wed 6 Years. The couple met in New York and wed six years ago. The Schneiders had no children. Schneider was in Des Moines a year ago. visiting Mrs. Hahnen. According to the Associated Press, the veteran of transcontinental speed contests and "suicide pilot" in the Spanish civil war was killed in a routine training flight with a pupil. Drowned. Schneider and George W. Herzog, 37, who held a commercial pilot's license and was taking a refresher course, drowned in an inlet of Jamaica bay near Floyd Bennett field when their plane went into a spin following a collision with a navy trainer 600 feet above the field. The pilot of the navy plane managed to land his ship without injuring himself or a passenger. Learned to Fly at 16. Schneider learned to fly at 16, and set a junior speed record of 29 hours and 41 minutes from Westfield, New Jersey, to Los Angeles, California, in 1930. A week later he smashed two other records with eastward flights. He was awarded the Great Lakes trophy for his flying feats. The trophy is on exhibition in the Smithsonian Institute at Washington, D.C. in 1937 Schneider was one of four American leaders of the Yankee squadron which fought for loyalist Spain. The Daily Register of Red Bank, New Jersey Edward Schneider Killed In Crash At Bennett Field. Former Resident of Locust Point Set Many Aerial Record. Edward Schneider. 28 year old, a former resident of Locust Point, was killed Monday in an airplane crash over Floyd Bennett field, Brooklyn. Mr. Schneider was a flying soldier of fortune who held many serial records when he was only 19 and who fought with the Loyalist during the Spanish Civil war. He was married and lived at 52-50 Ninety-third street, Jackson Height, Queen, and was an Instructor for the Archie Baxter Flying school, at Floyd Bennett field. George Wilson Herzog, S7, a garage owner, of New Hyde Park, was also killed. He held a commercial pilot1! license and had applied for a 'refreshing course In connection with the Civil Aeronautics Board's training program. Mr. Schneider and Mr. Herzog had been up for an hour In a two-seater monoplane and were heading south, with the plane' landing gear downs when the accident occurred. The Navy craft, a Stearman trainer biplane, had been up about as long and was going west toward the field, preparing to head into the wind. Its landing gear was down also. Witnesses said that the left strut of the Stearman's landing gear brushed against the left wing of the private plane. At the impact, the small plane went into a spin, straightened out for a moment and then plunged straight down into Deep Creek. Lieut. Commander Don F. Smith, in command of the Naval base at Floyd Bennett field, said that a board of inquiry under Commander H. R. Bowes would make a formal investigation. Another inquiry was ordered by Joseph Hanley, Chief Assistant District Attorney of Brooklyn. Mr. Schneider was born In New York City October 20, 1911. When he received his license in 1928 he was the youngest commercial pilot in the country. He established a trans-continental junior speed record in 1930. In the same year, flying In the Ford national air reliability tour, he won the Great Lakes Trophy for small single-motored planes. In 1935 he was manager of the Jersey City airport In 1936 Mr. Schneider went to Spain with Bert Acosta and Gordon Berry to fight for the Loyalists. When he came back he said American flyers had been forced to use unfamiliar, old planes and that they had failed to receive the $1,500 a month each they were promised as salary. Mr. Schneider married Miss Gretchen Hahnan of Jersey City June 2, 1934. They met while she was conducting a column on aviation for the Jersey City Journal. Surviving besides his wife, Is his father, Emil A. Schneider of Arlington and a sister, Mrs. John Harms. Daily News of New York City, New York Cheated Death in Air Battles, Dies in Crash. By Jack Turcott. A 28-year-old flying instructor, who, as pilot for the Spanish Loyalist forces and transcontinental speed record breaker, defied death scores of times, was killed yesterday in a routine one-hour flight with a student near Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn. The instructor, Edward Schneider, and his pupil, 37-year-old George W. Herzog, were drowned in Deep Creek, a small inlet off Jamaica Bay, at 1:30 P.M., a few seconds after their Piper Cub monoplane collided with a Navy biplane trainer 6OO feet in the air. Witnesses said the left wing of Schneider's plane apparently struck the Navy ship's landing gear as both planes were coming down, from different directions, for a landing. Wing Falls Off. The collision forced Schneider's ship into a tailspin and as he fought to straighten his plane, the damaged wing fell off. The craft then plummeted into the creek and sank almost instantly. The Navy plane, piloted by Ensign Kenneth A. Kuehner, 25, of Minster, Ohio, with Second Class Seaman Franklin Newcomer, 25, as his passenger, landed safely. Navy officials said the ship, a Stearman biplane, suffered damage to its lower right wing, upper left wing and propeller. Screaming sirens reported the crash immediately and a Coast Guard plane took off to find the wreckage. A Coast Guard cutter began grappling and soon lifted the monoplane to the surface. Both Schneider and Herzog were still in their seats. They were hurried to the deck of a partly-submerged barge nearby, where a physician pronounced them dead after attempts at artificial resuscitation. Herzog, father of two children, was a builder, according to officials of the Archie Baxter Flying Service, for whom Schneider worked. Schneider, who began flying at 16, was one of the nation's most adventuresome pilots. On August 18, 19, 20, when he was 18, he set a new junior speed record of 29 hours, 41 minutes for a flight from Westfield, New Jersey, to Los Angeles. A week later he broke two more records for the eastward flight across the country. Associated Press Schneider Killed During a Routine Training Flight. New York City, New York; December 23, 1940 (Associated Press) Edward Schneider, twenty-eight, a flying instructor who had challenged death scores of times as a trans-continental speed record-breaker and as a flying soldier of fortune in the Spanish civil war, was killed today in a routine training flight with a pupil. Schneider and the student, George W. Herzog, thirty-seven. were drowned in an inlet of Jamaica bay near Floyd Bennett Field when their plane. went into a spin after a collision with a navy trainer 600 feet above the field. Ensign Kenneth A. Kuehener, twenty-five, of Minster, Ohio, pilot of the navy plane, landed with little damage. Neither Kuhener nor his passenger, Second Class Seaman Franklin Newcomer, twenty-five, of Rochester, Ohio, was injured. Schneider, who learned to fly at sixteen, set a new Junior speed record of twenty-nine hours and forty-one minutes from Westfleld, New Jersey to Los Angeles in 1930. A week later he smashed two other records with eastward flights. He was one of four American "suicide pilots," leaders of the Yankee squadron, who fought for Loyalist Spain 1937. Category: Eddie August Schneider (1911-1940)